Monday July 7, 2025
FILE — A composite photo of Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni (left) and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (right). Tensions have escalated between the two leaders over federal authority and control in the contested Sanaag region.
Garowe (HOL) — Puntland warned Sunday that Somalia’s federal government will be held accountable for any violence in the disputed Sanaag region after regional troops seized the coastal village of Elbuh and forced rival political figures to withdraw overnight.
The regional presidency said Federal Commerce Minister Mahmoud Ahmed Adan, known as Geesood, had planned to visit Elbuh on Saturday but cancelled once Puntland forces took control. Garowe accuses the minister, who earlier stopped in Laascaanood, of being used by Mogadishu to ignite “political and security unrest” in territory Puntland claims.
Among those who left Elbuh was former Puntland parliament speaker Abdirashid Yusuf Jibril, who, according to Puntland officials, was organizing a meeting to back Sanaag’s integration into the self-declared SSC-Khaatumo administration.
In Mogadishu, federal authorities are pressing a plan to fold Sool, Sanaag and Buuhoodle into a single federal-aligned administration, arguing it will settle longstanding clan disputes and improve service delivery. Puntland rejects the proposal, saying the three regions are constitutionally part of its state and that any parallel structure threatens an already fragile security landscape rife with al-Shabab activity and clan rivalries.
The regions at the center of the standoff straddle a strategic corridor linking Somaliland, Puntland and Ethiopia’s Somali region, making them a frequent flashpoint in Somalia’s complex federal experiment. Similar attempts by Mogadishu to redraw regional boundaries have previously triggered armed clashes and political boycotts.